Impact on the Common Law Jurisdictions

Introduction and Methodology [4] The purpose of this Report is to review the Convention in light of existing Canadian law extant in the common law provinces and territories of Canada, and to present findings on the impact the Convention will have on existing law and contractual practices.8 In assessing the Convention in the context of existing Canadian law, the primary source of law examined was t. [...] In Particular, Article 1.3 states that “neither the nationality of the parties nor the civil or commercial character of the parties or of the contract is to be taken into consideration in determining the application of this Convention.” [21] The preservation of party autonomy appears to be a guiding principle of the Convention. [...] [42] Under the Convention, the time of dispatch of an electronic communication is the time when a message leaves an information system under the control of the sender.47 Under the UECA, the focus is on the time it enters an information system out of the originator’s control.48 Although the reason for the change in focus is not obvious, there does not appear to have been any intention by UNCITRAL t. [...] [47] Applying Article 10.2 of the Convention to the CISG, it would appear that acceptance occurs when the electronic message is capable of being retrieved by the offeror (assuming the terms “reaches the offeror” in the CISG and “receipt” in the Convention are equivalent concepts). [...] The Convention upholds the validity of contracts formed by the interaction of an automated message system and a natural person, or by the interaction of automated message systems.65 The UECA and domestic electronic 12 PRE-IMPLEMENTATION REPORT ON THE CONVENTION ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTS commerce legislation provide similar assurances,66as does the common la.